On Sat, Jul 19, 2008 at 02:56:07AM -0700, Lie wrote: > government, etc. IBM PC is one of the first computers that ordinary > people could possess, when IBM-clones appeared on the market, they're > referred as PCs too because they are Personal Computer, a computer > that is designed for personal use.
Just to be clear, this statement is WRONG. PC-clones were so called because they were clones of the IBM-PC. The term is very specific to IBM-compatible hardware. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pc_clone IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC, XT, or AT internal design, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to legally reverse engineer the BIOS through cleanroom design. Wikipedia's article on the personal computer accurately reflects the multiple meanings of the term, and points out the common usage to mean a Windows box: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer Today a PC may be a desktop computer, a laptop computer or a tablet computer. The most common operating systems are Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, while the most common microprocessors are x86 compatible CPUs. However, the term "PC" is often used only to refer to computers running Microsoft Windows. So please stop your whining and get used to the idea that THE REST OF THE WORLD uses PC to mean a Windows box. -- Derek D. Martin http://www.pizzashack.org/ GPG Key ID: 0x81CFE75D
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